ESSENTIAL BELL WORK (ART HISTORY/PHILOSOPHY/DRAWING)
Bellwork has been a great place for me to fit in regular study of art history in preparation for an exam at the end of the semester. I also do Art Philosophy reading and written responses to help them dig deeper in regard to the purpose of art. Drawing is also a huge part of our regular bell work because there is no substitute for practice. Bell work goes on a 2 week cycle and I have classes 3 days each week. That is 6 classes of bell work. Day 1: Art history, Day 2: Art Philosophy, Day 3-6: Drawing a still Life.
Art PhilosophyThe Daily Book of Art from Walter Foster Publishing has some great material. These are great to get students to start thinking about art as more than crafts. I mostly use the Philosophy pages that have a couple questions on the bottom. Students read and write a response. They can use the questions or respond to something else from the reading. I made a packet by copying just the philosophy pages and the students just open their philosophy packets to the appropriate page to read and write the response on the appropriate day. I just throw it up on my document projector so when they come in the room they see the exact one that I want them to do. No need for talking. they just start. I have a couple of these below but I would recommend buying the book and making your own.
Click to download the .pdf packet |
Art HistoryWe go through roughly 6 artists each semester or 12 each year if the class is 2 semesters. Students read about the piece and take notes in the following areas: Title, Artist, Medium, Movement and Statement of Significance. At the end of each semester they take an exam in which they choose 4 of The pieces to write about. We take the exam in a computer lab where they can watch my Power Point slides and type on the computer. I don't need to read handwriting when I grade this . They just print it out and turn it in. Their notes on Statement of Significance become an essay as seen in the sample. I have 4 of the pdf packets so check it out and make your own if you like it.
Click to download the .pdf packet Click to download the .doc exam Click to download the .ppt slideshow MS Students read through books in the Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists series by Mike Venezia. Students take notes in the back of their sketchbook about each artist. Below is the document I use so students know which book they use that day. Click to download the .doc haldout |
DrawingDrawing is an essential skill to practice and there is no substitute for mileage. Do lots of it! Middle School classes use a packet that I put together from various books that emphasize combining simple shapes to create more complex shapes. The books that I have pulled from are Draw Really Cool Stuff by Doug DuBosque, How to Draw 101 Animals by Dan Green, and How to Draw 101 Funny People also by Dan Green
Click to download the .pdf packet Older MS and HS students draw still lifes. They draw an object that sits in the middle of their table and continue the same drawing the next class. They get a new object every two weeks. |